Dementia-stricken man found dead after disappearing from home

Gustavo Ferrer, 79, was found dead near the Sheridan Expressway in the Bronx on Tuesday. (NYPD)

A missing elderly man who suffered from dementia was discovered dead less than two miles from his home, police said Tuesday.

Cops are still trying to sort out how 79-year-old Gustavo Ferrer died after he vanished from his Fordham Heights home Saturday night.

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Officers found his body next to Amtrak train tracks by Westchester Ave. and the Sheridan Expressway just after 12:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Ferrer was in a fenced off, hard-to-access spot by the Bronx River.

He likely would have needed to climb a fence, or crawl underneath one, to get there, sources said.

The city medical examiner will determine how he died.

Ferrer, who suffered from mild dementia, left his Valentine Ave. home at about 6 p.m. Saturday. Police released his photo Sunday afternoon.

"This is insane, I wish I could've did more for him," said his youngest son, Misael Ferrer. "He just walked up Webster Avenue and just never walked back down. We were looking for him, putting flyers everywhere."

Ferrer, a retired truck driver, was born in Puerto Rico but lived in the Bronx for more than 40 years, his son said.

"This block was his home. He was comfortable going wherever, everybody knows him," Ferrer said. "He took the time out to give advice to anybody who wanted it."

He had two daughters, two sons and several grandchildren, and would always talk about the importance of hard work, his son said.

"He was always talking about life, and planning a future," Ferrer said, "and always talking about working and making money."